After the Bavarian Administrative Court (VGH) recently overruled the Free State’s controversial otter regulations, which were intended to enable the shooting of 32 specimens of the strictly protected species in Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate, Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber (CSU) is demanding that the state government withdraw the regulations . “That would significantly shorten the time required and save resources,” said Kaniber to the SZ. At the same time, the minister demands that Deputy Prime Minister and Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (FW) work with Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber (also FW) to develop a new set of rules on how best to protect pond owners in Bavaria from damage caused by predators.
Kaniber’s reasoning: The otter falls under hunting law, so as the new hunting minister, Aiwanger is now responsible for dealing with the strictly protected species and no longer her house.
What seems like a somewhat strange tussle when you first hear it has been a real controversial topic for years, especially in Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate. Otters – like wolves, whose shooting the state government has also made easier – are among the most strictly protected animals under European nature conservation law. They may actually only be killed in absolutely exceptional cases and after careful examination of each case. But because the animals are causing increasing problems for pond owners and fish farmers, conservationists and politicians have been arguing for years about how to properly deal with them. An otter eats up to 1.2 kilos of fish a day. 30 years ago, the species had practically disappeared in the Free State, with the exception of a few specimens in the Bavarian Forest. In the meantime, populations have recovered significantly, especially in Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate. It is estimated that around 650 otters live there.
The animals are not at all welcomed by pond owners and fishermen. Because they can cause a lot of damage in fish farms. According to Kaniber, damage caused by otters in Bavaria in 2022 amounted to almost 2.7 million euros, an almost tenfold increase compared to 2016. That’s why the pond owners and fishermen, together with the CSU and FW, have been pushing for a relaxation of the strict otter protection for years. This year they were heard. Following a decision by the state government, Kaniber, who is responsible for pond management in Bavaria, had two regulations drawn up that made it easier to shoot otters and released a shooting quota of 32 animals for this year in Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate.
The Federation for Nature Conservation (BN) and German Environmental Aid (DUH) immediately filed a lawsuit. They are convinced that the regulations not only violate the Federal Nature Conservation Act and EU law. They also consider the shooting of otters to be completely unsuitable for protecting fish ponds from predators. The reason: “Restrictions that become free by killing an otter will sooner or later be occupied by another,” is the argument of biologist and BN woman Christine Margraf. “Then the trouble starts all over again.” The BN is therefore calling for protective fences to be built around endangered ponds to keep otters out.
Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger on an alpine pasture near Oberaudorf in April. At that time he was not yet responsible for hunting in Bavaria.
(Photo: Peter Kneffel/dpa)
In its urgent decision, the VGH confirms the view of the conservationists and does not give the state government any hope that things will be different in the main proceedings. “The Federal Nature Conservation Act only provides for exceptions to the ban on killing through regulations and through individual exceptions, but not – as in the present case – through general information from the administration about quotas,” is the central passage in the VGH’s communication about the urgent decision. With the decision, the VGH not only confirms previous case law. But it also corresponds to the expectations of the world of experts, right up to the ministries, which viewed the two Bavarian regulations as legally untenable from the outset.
Economics and Hunting Minister Aiwanger, who is a passionate hunter, has long advocated for easing of otter protection. At the time, he commented on the enactment of the otter ordinance, which has now been overturned by the highest court, with the words: “In many regions of Bavaria, the otter has multiplied so much that pond owners are having to give up their businesses in large numbers and the waters are silting up, which leads to a loss of biodiversity. That’s why its inventory must necessarily be reduced.” On Friday, Aiwanger was undeterred. “It is our line to evaluate the court’s criticisms and make a new attempt at the regulation – with an attempt to achieve greater legal certainty,” he said. “It is urgently necessary that we create the opportunity to remove otters from places where they cause damage to pond management.”